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Dantomkia
Dantomkia was a competitor robot from Surrey that fought in Series 6-8 of Robot Wars, and the second series of Robot Wars Extreme. Originally built and entered by Michael Lambert of Team Dantomkia, it was subsequently bought by Lincolnshire-based Team S.Tek for its entry into Series 8. Dantomkia enjoyed a considerable amount of success, and is considered one of the few "All-Star" robots to debut after the Fourth Wars. It reached the Semi-Finals in its inaugural campaign, defeating the seeded Chaos 2 in the heat final, but going on to lose to S3 and ultimately Razer after it won the Loser's Melee. It also reached the semi-finals of Series 7, defeating IG-88 in a manner of seconds, before being dispatched by Dutch competitor Gravity with similar speed in the semi-finals. Dantomkia also achieved reasonable success in side competitions, such as the Extreme 2 Challenge Belt and the Series 7 All-Stars. Under new management, Dantomkia entered Series 8 and reached the Heat Final with wins over Big Nipper and King B Remix, but was defeated by TR2. Dantomkia is the current record holder for the most robots flipped out of the arena (nine, plus one untelevised), a trend it began in its second ever battle with Mighty Mouse and extended all the way to its penultimate battle of the original show with Panic Attack. One of these robots was the original performer of the feat and then-record holder, Chaos 2. Dantomkia also broke Cerberus's long standing shortest battle record in the fight with IG-88, but this record was broken quickly in its own fight with Gravity, where it was defeated in six seconds. Dantomkia's name was derived from Lambert's three children: Daniel, Thomas and Kiara. The name was kept even after the robot was sold to new owners. Design Dantomkia is a tall, boxy bi-wedge shaped robot painted yellow and black and armed with a narrow pnuematic flipper. The flipper could fire with two tonnes of pressure and in less than one twenty-fifth of a second, and was inspired by the weapons system of Bigger Brother (see below) and helped to inspire the pneumatics system for the Series 7 version of Gravity. The front wedges were chisel-shaped so that when Dantomkia reared back on its retractable rear castor - intended to keep the robot's ground clearance low to the floor - they could cause gashes in other opponents when Dantomkia spun on the spot at 450rpm in Series 6-7. Dantomkia immediately proved fast, agile, reliable and hard-hitting in its first series appearances ("a proven track record for its design and construction" as Jonathan Pearce summarised), helped by its top speed of 20mph and a flipper that was reliable and capable of flipping other opponents out with ease. However, Michael Lambert was known to suffer from nerves from time to time and was fearful of spinners hence the re-armoured front in Series 7. Additionally, Dantomkia's wedges were prone to getting wedged underneath angle grinders and the Disc of Doom, and its aerial was susceptible to being dislodged, which contributed to many of its defeats. The Dantomkia from Series 6 was known as Dantomkia Mk 3, and Dantomkia from Series 7 was referred to as Dantomkia Mk 4, as it featured a new HARDOX chassis. Dantomkia Mk5 was built in 2013, but sold to Team S.Tek in 2015, who upgraded the machine further when the new series was announced. Its armour now consisted of tank-grade steel, its weight was increased from 96kg to 108kg, and the robot could now spin at up to 500RPM on the spot. Team S.Tek's logo replaces the classic bulldog design on the robot, and the robot's name was removed from the paint-job. Qualification The original Dantomkia (known in modern day as Dantomkia 1.0) was little more than a body with the two cutting wedges attached. It attempted to qualify for Series 4 and faced off in two battles against Anorakaphobia and Last Rights. Although Dantomkia beat both of its opponents, it ultimately failed to qualify, which Mike Lambert believed was due to the battles being seen as "boring". Because of this, Mike Lambert endeavoured to create a new version of Dantomkia that was more powerful, faster and more effective. During a relaxing session in the pub with Ian Watts from Bigger Brother and Sam Smith from Tiberius, Ian Watts explained to Mike Lambert the working of Bigger Brother's flipper, so Mike Lambert decided to use a flipper. Dantomkia had managed to stand Iron-Awe 2.0 onto its rear in its Series 6 qualifier, overturning Maximus and beating Destruct-A-Bubble after flipping it around until cease was called. Dantomkia won the battle and qualified for Series 6. Dantomkia automatically qualified for Series 7 as a seeded machine, and was picked for Series 8 based on its pedigree. Before Series 9 was filmed, Dantomkia changed hands to Team Slam, who applied to enter the series with a largely unchanged version of the robot, but they were not chosen to competehttps://www.facebook.com/Dantomkiarobotwars/posts/260521451040129. Robot History Series 6 Dantomkia’s first battle in Robot Wars was against Doctor Fist, Mr Nasty, and Crushtacean. After Dantomkia slammed Doctor Fist into the wall, Doctor Fist stopped moving. Dantomkia then used its flipper to place Crushtacean and Mr. Nasty up against the wall. Although it couldn’t flip either one out of the arena, Crushtacean had removed Mr Nasty's aerial, meaning that Dantomkia was safely through to the next round. Regardless, it continued to flip Crushtacean around the arena, demonstrating promising abilities against the former Heat Finalist. Dantomkia did not immobilise Crushtacean, but both qualified. Dantomkia dominated in its second match against Mighty Mouse, flipping the light opposition repeatedly. It eventually got Mighty Mouse stuck sideways on the disc button, but Refbot freed it. The robots charged into each other and Mighty Mouse flew up Dantomkia’s wedge, landing stuck on its side. Dantomkia shoved Mighty Mouse over to the arena wall, where Mighty Mouse became the first of many robots that Dantomkia would flip out of the arena. Dantomkia faced an intimidating Heat Final, against two-time champion Chaos 2. Indeed, Chaos 2 began by flipping Dantomkia high into the air, but Dantomkia landed right side up. It then pushed Chaos 2 into the CPZ, where Chaos 2 flipped it again. The force of the flip was so great that both robots ended up on their backs. Dantomkia managed to self right, but Chaos 2 was having difficulty getting back onto its wheels after being pushed into a CPZ by Shunt and was also appearing to have some problems with its CO2 system in this state. By this point, Chaos 2 was in real danger and Dantomkia confirmed this by charging it and flipping it out of the arena, ending the hopes of the previous champions in a major upset. In the Series Semi-Finals, Dantomkia’s first battle saw it go up against the number 7 seeds S3. In the battle, Dantomkia tried to get underneath S3, but S3 was low enough to prevent Dantomkia from doing so. Dantomkia did manage to get under S3, but S3’s odd shape allowed it to slide right off. Dantomkia then drove itself under an angle grinder and couldn’t free itself. S3 capitalised on this opportunity and struck Dantomkia’s rear with its flywheel. Refbot freed Dantomkia from the wall, but S3’s attack had immobilised Dantomkia and it was subsequently counted out. In the losers’ melee, Dantomkia faced 13 Black and the 9th seeds Wild Thing 2. It flipped Wild Thing 2 once before taking a glancing blow from 13 Black. It then got underneath 13 Black and, while it couldn’t get it out of the arena, it did manage to flip it over. Dantomkia then hit the pit release at the exact moment that Wild Thing 2 was driving over the pit. Wild Thing 2 couldn’t get away from the descending pit in time, so it went out. 13 Black meanwhile, was still on its back but managed to achieve mobility by shuffling around with its discs. The two robots began spinning round and round in a bizarre sort of dance, before Dantomkia tried and failed again to flip 13 Black out of the arena. 13 Black landed on its wheels and shoved Dantomkia into an angle grinder. Just like in its match against S3, Dantomkia was stuck, so the house robots freed it. Dantomkia flipped 13 Black once more just before time ran out. Since 13 Black and Dantomkia were both mobile, the judges were called upon to make a decision, and they ruled that Dantomkia would move on to the next round. It then fought Razer, the defending champion. Razer moved in quickly and grabbed hold of Dantomkia, but it was able to break free. Dantomkia then went on the offensive and pushed Razer across the arena and into the arena wall. Razer grabbed Dantomkia again but was unable to cause any major damage to the outer shell. Razer then attacked the front of Dantomkia and finally pierced through the armour of its opponent, but Dantomkia broke free and pushed Razer into the CPZ. Both robots were mobile at the end of the battle and the judges went for Razer, putting an end to Dantomkia's run. Dantomkia still completely outshone all other newcomers, and this was shown in its winning of the Most Promising Newcomer award. Extreme 2 Dantomkia competed in the All-Stars tournament in Extreme 2. In its first match, it teamed up with Tornado to gang up on Terrorhurtz. Tornado pushed Terrorhurtz into a wall and Dantomkia attempted to flip the axe robot out of the arena, nearly succeeding in doing so. The robots spent the rest of the match pushing Terrorhurtz into corners and walls, as Dantomkia's flipper had lost full power. Terrorhurtz tried to fight back, but didn’t gain any purchase. Eventually, it got flipped over by Shunt and didn’t have the power left to self-right, so Dantomkia pushed it into the pit. In the second round, Dantomkia faced Firestorm 4. Dantomkia's ground clearance was inferior, and Firestorm pushed it into a CPZ straight away and flipped it against the wall. After self-righting repeatedly, Dantomkia escaped, and managed to flip Firestorm over in the centre of the arena. However this proved to be Dantomkia's only attack, as Firestorm regained the lead, throwing Dantomkia into another CPZ, where it received damage from Shunt. Dantomkia had lost power to its batteries, and when Firestorm threw Dantomkia onto the arena wall, it self-righted and became completely immobile. Dantomkia was counted out by Refbot, and was pitted, putting it out of the All-Stars. Dantomkia also entered the Challenge Belt competition. It dominated its opening match, flipping Hypno-Disc out of the arena almost immediately. Mr. Psycho pinned it in the CPZ for a while, but eventually let it go. Dantomkia flipped S.M.I.D.S.Y. and Sir Chromalot a few times, eventually propping S.M.I.D.S.Y. up against the wall. It then pushed Sir Chromalot into a CPZ, and flipped it over, where it seemingly could not self-right. where Matilda finished it off by flinging it out of the arena with her flywheel. Dantomkia then managed to flip S.M.I.D.S.Y. out of the arena, although this was not shown on the televised version. Dantomkia next fought a robot with a similar colour scheme, Iron-Awe 2.0. Team Iron-Awe specifically lowered their ground clearance to combat Dantomkia, but this led to it becoming stuck under the Disc of Doom. Dantomkia pursued it, and dodged the axe blows. When Dantomkia slipped fully underneath, it drove Iron-Awe towards the arena entry gates, and threw it over the wall. Dantomkia celebrated by spinning on the spot, firing its flipper. In the battle for the right to fight Tornado, Dantomkia faced Terrorhurtz. Dantomkia found it difficult to get under Terrorhurtz’s skirts and its inability to do so left it vulnerable to Terrorhurtz’s axe blows. It did manage to flip Terrorhurtz and drive it into the CPZ but Terrorhurtz effortlessly self-righted with its axe, and Shunt obstructed Dantomkia in its attempts to follow up. Terrorhurtz came back on the attack, and smashed Dantomkia’s top until it stopped moving. Refbot closed in, but Terrorhurtz simply pushed Dantomkia into the pit, eliminating it. Series 7 Dantomkia was seeded fifth in Series 7. In its first match, it immediately flipped Hassocks Hog 2 over before attempting to flip Rick out of the arena. It then planted King B Powerworks on an angle grinder momentarily, before flipping Rick and King B Powerworks a few more times. Dantomkia momentarily carried King B Powerworks on its top, mistiming a flip. Rick flipped Dantomkia over, but it self righted and attempted again to flip Rick out of the arena. All the robots except Hassocks Hog 2 were still mobile, so the judges had to make the decision, and they ruled that Dantomkia had qualified unanimously - King B Powerworks only qualified through a split decision. Dantomkia’s next match was against Scorpion. Dantomkia immediately got underneath Scorpion and pushed it over to the wall. It almost flipped Scorpion out of the arena, but the arena lighting was in the way, and blocked Scorpion from exiting the arena. Unfazed, Dantomkia pushed Scorpion into a corner and successfully lifted it out of the arena. Dantomkia was through to the Heat Final, where it met IG-88. All Dantomkia had to do was get under IG-88, charge over to the wall, and flick it out. This match lasted only eight seconds, but surprisingly, it was not Dantomkia’s shortest battle in Robot Wars. In the Semi-Final, Dantomkia was swiftly eliminated when Gravity flipped it out of the arena just 5.7 seconds after the match began. This set the record as the shortest battle ever in Robot Wars, which still stands today. Dantomkia returned for the All-Stars, as a "filler robot", because many of the robots that fit the All-Stars criteria (fighting in five wars or more) were unavailable. In the first round, Dantomkia shone. It rammed Behemoth into the side wall, failing to get beneath the scoop, but managed to reach the rear. Dantomkia then rammed Behemoth into the side wall and threw the series 2 semi-finalists out of the arena. Moving on, Dantomkia found a new target in King B Powerworks, whom it separated from Pussycat. King B Powerworks struggled, until glancing blows from Pussycat caused resistance to vanish. Dantomkia then charged towards the opposite wall from where the motionless Behemoth lay, throwing King B Powerworks from the arena. This put Dantomkia through to fight Panic Attack. Here, Panic Attack managed to hold off Dantomkia for a short time, but was flipped over. Dantomkia patiently waited for some signs of self-righting, but when none came, Dantomkia threw the former champions out of the arena. Dantomkia then assaulted and defeated both Dead Metal and Growler, by flipping Dead Metal onto Growler, effectively pinning both robots down. Dantomkia then activated the pit, but cease was called before further action. This put Dantomkia through to fight Pussycat in the All-Stars Final. After dominating the earlier stages of the fight; surviving Pussycat's blade and almost throwing it from the arena. However, Pussycat landed a deadly blow on Dantomkia's aerial, immobilising it. This unanticipated turn of events showed Pussycat managing to hook Dantomkia and drag it into the pit release. Pussycat was then attacked by House Robots, and in the confusion, Dantomkia and Pussycat were both pitted. Pussycat was named as All-Stars Champion, and Dantomkia placed second. Series 8 Dantomkia competed in Heat 3, where it was once again placed in a first-round melee with King B Remix, as well as newcomers Glitterbomb and Overdozer. It was entered by Team S.Tek, who decorated their bench in the pits with various graphics, Dantomkia pullbacks, and Dantomkia emitted smoke as special effects. Although Dantomkia started tentatively, sustaining an axe blow from Glitterbomb, it got into the action when it overturned Glitterbomb in a CPZ. Leaving it with King B Remix, Dantomkia attacked the already defeated Overdozer, tossing it into the air, removing wood from the robot. Dantomkia returned to Glitterbomb and flipped it again, this time immobilising the pink robot. The victorious Dantomkia flipped Overdozer again, tossing its MDF high off the ground, and qualified alongside King B Remix. It was later revealed that Overdozer's spike had pierced Dantomkia's steel armour by landing on it after a flip. In its first head-to-head, Dantomkia fought a King Buxton machine for the fourth time in Robot Wars history. The King Buxton team had signed a panel of Dantomkia's armour before the battle bagan, which Dara Ó Briain used to create a grudge scenario. Although Dantomkia's start was imperfect, being slammed by King B Remix and getting caught on a raised arena spike, although Dantomkia quickly turned the battle around, sliding underneath King B Remix and throwing it into the arena wall. Narrowly failing to throw another robot out of the arena, King B Remix remained stuck, and Dantomkia kept its distance, satisfied with its victory despite the earlier claim that King B Remix would be thrown into the trench. Matilda instead did the honours, while Dantomkia lifted Dead Metal. Dantomkia next fought fellow flipper, TR2. The high ground clearance of Dantomkia was quickly exposed, and it was thrown into the arena wall by TR2. Self-righting high into the air, Dantomkia was thrown once more, before landing a flip of its own on TR2. When Dantomkia was flipped again, its flipper became stuck open when self-righting, causing a gas leak when it was thrown over for the last time. Dantomkia was rendered immobile, and sustained a glancing blow from TR2's axe. Unable to find the source of the error, Shane Swan hit his robot with a hammer in anger. On a total of three points, Dantomkia needed to defeat Big Nipper in order to qualify for the Heat Final. Team S.Tek's strategy was to make full use of the House Robots, and they flipped Big Nipper around in Sir Killalot's CPZ, where the house robot held its prey over the flame pit. After keeping Big Nipper in this area for a while, Dantomkia sustained a big hit from the spinner which removed the end of its flipper. Back in Sir Killalot's CPZ, Dantomkia launched Big Nipper high into the air, and then pushed it towards Dead Metal, although took damage from another big spinner blow. Cease was called, and the Judges decided the outcome, which was a unanimous vote in favour of Dantomkia. In the Heat Final, Dantomkia fought a rematch with TR2. Although Dantomkia flipped TR2 after the latter was thrown by the floor flipper, its performance was otherwise unimproved, straying too near Matilda, which buffeted the side of Dantomkia. Thrown over by TR2 again, Dantomkia was pushed towards Matilda again, which landed another heavy blow. This dislodged Dantomkia's flipper, affecting its self-righting, while gas leaked again. Dantomkia employed a sit-and-spin tactic, but when pushed onto the floor flipper, Dantomkia was thrown over, and could not self-right, being thrown into the arena wall one last time before cease was called. After the battle, Shane Swan gave Team Toon the thumbs down, and insulted their robot, but still performed the team's signature pose at Dara Ó Briain's request. Although Dantomkia was defeated at this stage, it remained in contention for a wildcard, alongside Behemoth, Thor, Storm 2 and Gabriel. However, Thor was chosen, and Dantomkia was fully eliminated from the competition. Results |} Wins/Losses *Wins: 15 *Losses: 8 Series Record Outside Robot Wars Dantomkia Mk2 was built at the original 80kg weight limit to compete on the live event circuit. The team joined forces with The Lancaster Bombers who built Wolverine and rebuilt this incarnation into Spitfire for Season 5.0 of BattleBots. Spitfire was nearly identical in design to Dantomkia Mk3, but with a narrower rear end and a decreased CO2 supply, as out-of-the-arena flips were not possible in the original series of BattleBots. However, the robot was more heavily-armoured, and could spin on the spot at 600rpm, faster than its successor. In Season 5.0, Spitfire beat four opponents, including Vlad the Impaler 2, to reach the round of 32, before losing to Surgeon General there after being severely damaged by the latter's disc. Contractual obligations from the BattleBots producers forced a new incarnation to be built for Robot Wars. In 2013, Spitfire, still in the hands of Gareth Dean from Team Lancaster Bombers, made its UK debut at Robot Wars Guildford 2013. In 2006, Mike Lambert sold Dantomkia Mk4 to Team Batter. Under their wing, this Dantomkia won the Annihilator at the 2006 UK Championships despite losing their Heat Final to Ripper in the main competition. Dantomkia finished fourth at the UK Championships in 2007 and was runner-up at the 2008 UK Championships. In December 2009, Dantomkia was sold to Team Cylon. Team Hydra sold it back to John Bell who then renamed it in order to avoid confusion with Mike Lambert's new Mk5 model. Dantomkia Mk4 was renamed DTK, the same as the team's once successful featherweight. John Bell retired from roboteering entirely in late 2014 and donated DTK to John Findlay. Mike Lambert & Karoline Denisha of Team Torque built a stronger and more powerful Mk5 in late 2012, with the intention of entering the then-new Robot Wars live events. The machine was finished and painted in September 2013, and competed for the first time in the 2013 European Championships, losing in its heat to Terrorhurtz. In November 2015, this version of Dantomkia was acquired by Shane Swan, and it is this version which competed during Series 8. Dantomkia Mk3, now an empty chassis, was used for static display and publicity purposes. The entire chassis, complete with flipping arm and armour, was later auctioned as one of the items for Alex Brown's 2017 charity auction. After Series 8, in October 2016, Team S-Tek made a Facebook post revealing that Dantomkia has been sold on once again, this time to Matthew Pearman of Team Slam. Under their ownership, the robot received numerous modifications including revised armour and a larger flipper plate, and returned to live events in 2017, competing at the Robots Live! event in Stevenage that October. In a battle with Saint and Ka-Pow!, Dantomkia's pneumatic system mounts broke, and the robot eventually became stuck against the arena wall, and was pitted by Ka-Pow! Robot Wars Live Events Dantomkia made its first appearance at the new Robot Wars live events in Colchester in April 2013 under the ownership of Team Batter. It took part in the events competition where it faced Iron-Awe 5 and Eruption in the heats, but it didn't make much of an impact on the other two robots and fell at this stage. It also took part at Guildford 2013 where it fought in the competition and faced The Steel Avenger, Manta and St Hammer. Here it did slightly better until it got immobilised in the last seconds of the fight and lost a body panel. In the Robot Wars UK Championships at Newport 2013, it did well in the heats finishing second in its fight against Iron-Awe 5, Titan & Noisy Cricket, but lost again. It did better in the Robot Wars Winter Tour 2013 under the name of DTK, not to be confused with the featherweight of the same name. It fell in the Primary heats against Eruption and St Hammer, but won its Secondary heat against Dystopia and Tanto. This gave DTK enough points to qualify for the finals at Gloucester but it made little impact in the quarter-finals and lost against St Hammer. Spitfire made its UK début at the Robot Wars live event in Guildford in June 2013, where it faced Dantomkia amongst other robots. In the main competition, it faced Toon Raider and Titan, but it fell at this stage when it was flipped over and couldn't right itself. DTK is now owned by John Findlay. DTK participated in the Robot Wars World Championship, held at Colchester in 2015. DTK fought Apex, Titan and Manta, but was thrown out of the arena by Manta within the opening stages. In 2016, DTK attended every live tour of the year as an extra feature for VIP ticket holders, who are allowed to drive DTK after the show has concluded. Appearances in Merchandise *Dantomkia/Pullback Trivia EarlyDTK.jpg|Dantomkia 1.0 fights an early Tornado, some time before The Fourth Wars Dtk s5 time.png|Dantomkia at the time of Series 5 DantomkiaMichael.jpg|Michael Lambert with Dantomkia in 2001]] DantomkiaInternals.png|The internals of Dantomkia at Robot Rampage 2004 Dantomkia mk2.jpg|Dantomkia 2.0 with a yellow and black paint job. Dantomkialive.jpg|Dantomkia 2.0 at a live event DTK.png|Dantomkia 4.0 in 2013 DTK5Build.jpg|Dantomkia 5.0 in the process of being built Spitfire.png|Spitire in 2013 Dantomkia2014.jpg|Dantomkia in the pits at Burgess Hill 2014 *Team Dantomkia was one of ten Robot Wars teams to compete in BattleBots. *It competed in the third heat of all 3 of its main series appearances and won the first two after flipping both its Heat semi-final and Heat Final opponents out of the arena. **Interestingly, it also lost the first round of the semi finals both times, the only difference being Series 6 had a loser's melee and Series 7 did not. *Dantomkia competed in the third episode of all three series it fought in. *Dantomkia was the fifth (and last so far) robot to flip two robots out of the Arena in one battle. *For some reason, the Robot Wars announcer, Stuart McDonald, had trouble pronouncing Dantomkia's name correctly (DAN-tom-kee-a) during its appearances in the original series. He instead pronounced it in a variety of incorrect ways (such as Dan-TOMA-ky-a and Dan-TOM-kee-a). **This was also evident in Series 8, when the arena announcer pronounced Dantomkia's name as Dan-TOM-kee-a during its introduction in Heat 3. Dara Ó Briain also pronounced it this way throughout the episode. *Within two series of Robot Wars, Dantomkia fought King Buxton in three different first-round melees. *According to Mike Lambert, Dantomkia is female. *In 2015, Mike Lambert provided information and his opinion on Dantomkia's opponents that were flipped out of the arena: See Also *[http://battlebots.wikia.com/wiki/Spitfire Spitfire (BattleBots)] External Links *Archived Dantomkia Website *Team S.Tek Facebook page *[http://www.robotwars.tv/competitors/season-8/week-3/dantomkia/ Dantomkia on the Robot Wars website] References Honours Category:UK Series competitors Category:UK Semi-Finalists Category:Most Promising Newcomer winners Category:Series 7 Seeds Category:Robots Thrown out of the Arena Category:Robots that have thrown another robot out of the arena Category:Robots from Surrey Category:Robots with more Wins than Losses Category:Robots with Ramming Blades Category:All-Star Robots Category:Robots which are still competing today Category:UK robots that competed in BattleBots Category:Competitors in Robot Wars Live Events Category:Robots to throw 2 robots out of the arena in one fight Category:Robots to defeat a seed Category:Robots to appear in Battle Cards Pack 4 Category:Robots made into toys Category:Robots which outlasted three others in a 4-way melee Category:Robots named after real people Category:UK Annihilator winners since Robot Wars Category:Substitute Robots Category:Reinstated Robots Category:Robots from Lincolnshire Category:Robots with Rear-hinged Flippers Category:Side Competition Runners Up Category:Robots that fought for multiple teams Category:Robots which debuted in Series 6 Category:Robots to compete in both eras of Robot Wars